We Will Never Forget

It was nine years ago today when the New York skyline, and the lives of millions of people in the United States– and around the world– changed forever. A ruthless act of terrorism took the lives of nearly 3000 people on September 11, 2001, when two hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center towers on what would’ve been a normal Tuesday morning in Manhattan.

From the other side of the country, in Portland, Oregon, I was among countless people who stared in shock as the events of that day transpired on live TV. I remember feeling bewildered, almost rejecting the reality of what was taking place. This can’t be happening!

But it did happen.

And today, how many of us truly remember the significance of 9/11? How many of us were truly impacted by the decision of a group of people hellbent on causing terror in the name of their higher power? And how many of us have already forgotten the stories of those who were lost on that day?

A co-worker of mine, who used to live and work in Manhattan, lost over a dozen close, personal friends when the towers fell. She recalls feeling helpless as she watched things unfold, knowing her friends, who all worked on the upper floors of the north tower, would perish but still keeping some hope that they would get out alive. They didn’t.

She will never forget.

A cousin of mine had just moved to New York with her husband one month before 9/11 happened. She remembered seeing the second place strike the towers minutes after getting off her commuter bus, and having to run to away safety with thousands of other confused and scared New Yorkers who were also just starting their day. She remembered not being able to immediately call her family in Seattle, Washington, who were all worried sick when when they hadn’t heard from her in hours. She remembered asking herself, “Why am I here?!”

She will never forget.

And although the families of loved ones whose lives were cut short on that fateful morning may have found ways to move on, they, too, will never forget.